Customs May Scan Your iPod for Copyright Violations!

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 5:31pm

This is unbelievable.

Currently, there is an international copyright treaty being formulated by the US, EU, Canada, Japan and Australia that may permit Customs officers to search laptops and media players for pirated material.

Such officers would be able to confiscate and destroy anything they believe to be pirated, fine the owner and confiscate the equipment.

I wonder how they will do this. But...wow!
Show me your iPod.

[shira467]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 5:33pm

Whoa.

[javero]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 6:05pm

What???

[paradox_error]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 6:35pm

Wow. We really are heading toward an international police state...

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 7:02pm

How would they know? I mean, if it's a CD or movie that hasn't been released yet, it would be obvious, but there's no way to tell if you uploaded a legally-purchased CD onto your iPod or downloaded it illegally.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 7:08pm

I don't know how they would determine it - but the whole thought of your computer or MP3 player being scanned for no other purpose but to find copyright infringement is a bit scary.

What if they find other information on your system, are they then allowed to use that information to charge you? I am not sure how i will be implemented, but the fact that it is even being considered is scary.

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 7:19pm

Wow. It will take even longer to get through security.

This is crazy.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 7:24pm

Big Brother is watching.

[winston89]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 2:19am

I remember hearing from someone that the RIAA technically views putting a CD onto your computer so that you can upload it onto your Ipod as TECHNICAL copyright infringement. This is because you paid for the CD itself and to listen to the CD. NOT to put it on your computer.

Even still, The only way I can see this working is if they look for media files that are anything but MP3s. This is because a lot of the stuff that you can buy on let's say Itunes aren't MP3s. they are instead a media file created by apple to play on Itunes. And that working is similar for all online stores.

But, I know that in Itunes if you wanted to you can choose to have your CDs ripped as MP3s and not whatever the apple media file is. If they see that you have MP3s on your ituens because you decided to rip them as such are they automatically going to assume that what you have is illegal?

This is nuts and just wrong.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 2:21am

That was a position of the RIAA, but it is not supported by the interpretation of the Copyright Act, which permits you to make a copy of otherwise protected material for personal use.

The RIAA position will most likely fail when challenged in courts, if they follow the Sony/Betamax precedent.

[winston89]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 2:25am

Is the RIAA position going to be challenged in courts. Or was that just a hypothetical?

And what was the Sony/Betamax precedent.

[b=[^.^]=d]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 2:29am

This really sounds like it's more of the Customs Officer's discretion whether you've got pirated material or not.

As a big ol' computer nerd, as far as I know (which may not be as much as I think) there's not a way to decipher the difference between files you've imported yourself and files that were pirated...

[winston89]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 6:00am

I do think that this would be a customs office thing to take care of. But, I thought that customs was to make sure that you weren't brining in anything that you shouldn't when coming back to America from another country. It's not like you would be bringing back the pirated from another country. You had them when you left. You technically got them in America. I do think that this is just talk and isn't going to happen. The government is pissed because there really is no way to check for pirated files on people's computers. And, software like limewire isn't that hard to make and people download and share with one another all over the world. If they just got rid of something like limewire it would only be a matter of time before another file sharing program was up and running. They are just going to have to admit that they lost this battle fair and square.

[DG]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 8:24am

"the whole thought of your computer or MP3 player being scanned for no other purpose but to find copyright infringement is a bit scary."

I wouldn't think that it's "for no other purpose". It seems to me that they're looking to find a way to justify access - after that, they can look at whatever they want to for whatever reason. Never underestimate the need for those in power to maintain that leverage.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 10:11am

I don't know if the RIAA position is going to be challenged in court. I would think that if they try to enforce their interpretation it would be. Or, someone like EFF would challenge the position.

The Betamax decision:

"The Supreme Court's ruling in Sony v. Universal Studios (aka the Betamax case) is a landmark copyright precedent that has sheltered a wide array of technology innovators from lawsuits at the hands of the entertainment industries. In 1984, the Court held that a company -- in this instance, a VCR manufacturer -- was not liable for creating a technology that some customers may use for copyright infringing purposes, so long as the technology is capable of substantial non-infringing uses. In other words, where a technology has many uses, the public cannot be denied the lawful uses just because some (or many or most) may use the product to infringe copyrights."

Also, the fair use exemption under the copyright act has provided exceptions from violations for personal use. There are some ambiguities in the digital age on interpreting the exception, but I think that most people believe that ripping a CD that you own onto an iPod that you own is fair use, since this is the way you will be listening to the music purchased.

And, DG - that was what I thinking - what happens if someone has porn or some other questionable material on their MP3 player? Does this then give Customs the right to inform the government of the content?

Betamax Updated On: 6/8/08 at 10:11 AM

[winston89]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 12:04pm

I guess it is because of the betamax case something like a CD burner can be sold widely.

Sure, it can have uses that aren't breaking any laws which is why they sell them widely. But, most people use them for things that are breaking laws.

My brother who works in politics says that this won't fly. He says that you having illegal media on your laptop or MP3 player doesn't give grounds for a search. If you were on the terroist watch list and they thought that you were a threat then that would be one thing. But, they would be breaking their own laws in order to do a computer/mp3 player search.

[shira's chef]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 12:35pm

That's insane...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 2:57pm

My brother who works in politics says that this won't fly. He says that you having illegal media on your laptop or MP3 player doesn't give grounds for a search. If you were on the terroist watch list and they thought that you were a threat then that would be one thing. But, they would be breaking their own laws in order to do a computer/mp3 player search.

That's why they are trying to change the laws, no? And you don't have to be on watch list to get searched at the airport.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 3:04pm

To repeat from the article:

"More worryingly, the treaty suggests that customs officers should be given the right to search laptops and media players for pirated material.

Such officers would be able to confiscate and destroy anything they believe to be pirated, fine the owner and confiscate the equipment."

They do not even have to prove that it is pirated, but just believe it to be.

If this treaty is passed, then this discretion may well be granted to Customs officers.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 3:08pm

Well, if Winston's brother who works in politics says it won't fly, then I guess we're safe!

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 3:16pm

Yeah, that provides me a lot of comfort.

[javero]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 3:24pm

Thanks YWIT for posting this item. I've passed it onto to every privacy advocate with whom I'm acquainted.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 3:25pm

I can't believe the intention is to search every single person with an iPod and a laptop to crack down on illegal downloading. That's completely inefficient. When I read the article, I thought about all the rampant pirating of music and movies in China. I had a friend that would come back from a summer in China with DVDs of movies that had just been released in theatres. Not the crappy filmed versions sold on the subway; these were just as professional as the ones you could later buy in stores.

I think it's more likely they would search for media that hasn't been released moreso than interrogating every single person about how they came to acquire "Baby One More Time" and "Piano Man".

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/8/08 at 3:26pm

I can see the EFF being all over this.

OS - but the treaty does not even involve China.

It involves US, EU, Canada, Japan and Australia.